Another day, another advert apparently banned by Transport for London. Although this one hasn’t been.
The social media campaign doing the rounds from Ricky Gervais’ Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka is completely fake, with the brand pretending its adverts have been pulled to generate buzz.
And this time it’s not just a tired stunt, it’s also pretty tasteless.
In one ‘advert’, the comedian is pictured holding a glass of Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka with the strapline ‘Welcome to London. Don’t forget your stab vest.’ Another bears the strapline: ‘Drugs this good are usually illegal’. A third dissuades a would-be suicide victim by telling them ‘You’ll make everyone late for work’.
The adverts – Gervais claims – have been rejected for publication by “the powers that be”. Although, much like a recent furore involving Jeremy Clarkson’s Hawkstone brand, it is not clear exactly who is meant to have banned them.
“These adverts were never referred to TfL or their advertising partners for consideration,” a TfL spokesperson says. “Alternative creatives for Dutch Barn have been accepted and are running on our network.”
The ASA has also not received any complaints about the adverts. “We can’t ban an ad that hasn’t actually been published,” an ASA spokeswoman pointed out.
So, why has a supposedly ethical business resorted to pretending to have a string of offensive adverts banned?
A strategic shift
The answer, of course, lies in a shift in ownership and strategy for the brand over the last few years.
Since becoming a co-owner in Dutch Barn distiller Ellers Farm in 2023, Gervais appears to have been given carte blanche to retrofit his controversial comedy stylings to the brand.
Speaking at the time, Ellers farm founder Chris Fraser said Gervais would be able to “help shape how Dutch Barn is seen around the world” and be “an integral part of the business”.
And so it has come to pass that – where once Dutch Barn used to shout about its carbon neutral status, unique distillation process and B-Corp status – it now resorts to making jokes about knife crime, addiction and suicide in a desperate attempt for attention.
Inappropriate for booze
While some consumers appear to find this dark, bordering-on-offensive ‘comedy’ amusing, it clearly isn’t appropriate for a booze brand – even as a so-called joke – to be linking a product that can cause or exacerbate mental health problems to self-harm or suicide.
Nor is it particularly advisable to be making light of the issue of knife crime on public transport in a week when a mass stabbing event has taken place on a train.
Gervais can rage on Instagram that “you’re not allowed to say alcohol is good for you or it does this or it makes you feel confident or it makes you feel attractive”, but rules and regulations for alcohol advertising exist for a reason. And if they are ignored, marketeers risk harsher parameters being imposed in the future.
Brands crying wolf
Granted, there have been occasions when the so-called “powers that be” have been too heavy handed in their handling of booze packaging or advertising. Like when Lervig was forced to turn to AI to help it overturn a ridiculous ruling by The Portman Group’s independent complaints panel that would have all but banned one of its beers from sale.
But by pretending to have had adverts banned by authorities when no such clampdown has taken place, the likes of Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka and Hawkstone risk becoming brands that cried wolf.
And next time – when or if they actually suffer at the hands of rules and regulators – they may find sympathy is in short supply.
Dutch Barn Orchard Vodka declined to comment.
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